>> next, comments from president obama and conan o'brien from the 99th annual -- white house correspondents dinner hosted at the hilton hotel. ♪ >> thank you. thank you, everybody. how do you like my new entrance music? [applause] rush limbaugh warned you about this, second term, baby. [laughter] we are changing things around here little bit. [laughter]

were ay, my advisors little worried about the new rap entrance music. they are a little more traditional. they suggested that i should start with some jokes at my own expense. .ake myself down a peg i was like, guys, after four and a half years, how many tags are are there -- pegs left? [laughter] i want to think the white house correspondents. ed, you are doing an outstanding job. we are grateful for the great work you have done. [laughter] -- [applause] that is all the dignitaries that are here, everybody on the dais. i especially want to thank ray does outstanding work for our country, all of our men and women in uniform, and of

course, our extraordinary first lady, michelle obama. [applause] loves michelle. ,"e's on the cover of "vogue high poll numbers, but don't worry, recently, i got my own magazine cover. [laughter] look, i get it. these days, i look in the ,irror, and i have to admit i'm not the strapping young muslim socialist that i used to be. [applause] time passes. you get a little great. , even after all of this time, i still make rookie

mistakes. i am out in california, we are at a fundraiser, having a nice time, and i happen to mention that kamala harris is the best looking attorney general in the country. as you might imagine, i got trouble when i got back home. who knew eric holder was so sensitive? [laughter] [applause] then there is the easter egg roll, which is supposed to be a nice, fun event with the kids. i go out on the basketball court, took 22 shots, made two of them. [laughter] that is right, two hits, 20 misses. the executives at nbc asked, what is your secret? [laughter]

so, yes, maybe i have lost a step, but some things are beyond my control. for example, this whole controversy about jay-z going to cuba -- it is unbelievable. i've got 99 problems, and i jay- z is one of them. [laughter] that is another rap reference. [laughter] just let you know. -- just to let you know. of course, everybody's got plenty of advice for it maureen dowd said i could solve all my problems if i were just more like michael douglas in the american president -- "the american president." i know michael is here tonight. what is your secret? could it be that you were an

actor in an aaron sorkin liberal fantasy? might that have something to do with that? [laughter] i don't know. check in with me. maybe there's something else. anyway, i recognize that this drug can take a toll on you. i understand, second term, you need a burst of new energy, try some new things, and then my team and i talked about it -- we were willing to try anything -- we borrowed one of michelle's tracks -- tricks. [laughter] i thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce.

, i want to give a shout out to our headliner, conan o'brien. [applause] ed, and i talking to understand when the correspondents association were facing the age-old dilemma of who to announce as host, to offer it now, or to wait five years and then offer it to jimmy fallon. [laughter] that was a little harsh. i love conan. , the white house press corps is here. i know cnn has taken some knocks lately, but the fact is, i admire their commitments to cover all sides of the story, just in case one of them happens

to be accurate. [laughter] [applause] some of my former advisers have .witched over to the dark side for example, david axelrod now works for msnbc. which is a nice change of pace given that msnbc is to work for axelro.elrod the history channel is not here. i guess they were embarrassed about the whole obama is the devil thing. [laughter] of course, that never cap fox news from showing up. -- kept fox news from showing up. they actually thought the comparison was not fair to satan. [laughter]

the problem is is that the media landscape is changing so rapidly. you cannot keep up with it. buzzfeed wasen just something i did in college around 2:00 a.m. [laughter] it's true. [laughter] recently though, i found a new favorite source or political news. these guys are great. i think everybody should check it out. they tell it like it is. it is called whitehouse.gov. i cannot get enough of it. [laughter] the fact is, i really do respect the press. i recognize the press and i have different jobs to do. i job is to be president.

me humble. to keep frankly, i think i am doing my job better. [laughter] part of the problem is that everyone is so cynical. we are constantly feeding cynicism and conspiracies. do you remember a few months ago when my administration put out a photograph of me going skeet shooting at camp david? do you remember that? quite a number of people insisted that this had been photoshop. tonight, i have something to confess. you were right. can we show them the actual photo?

we were trying to tone it down a little bit. that was an awesome day. [laughter] there are other new players in the media landscape as well like super pacs. did you know that sheldon spent spent $100 million of his own money last year on negative ads? he must really dislike me. to spend that kind of money. that is oprah money.[laughter] you could buy an island and call it nobama for that kind of money. sheldon would have been better off offering me one hundred million dollars to drop out of the race. [laughter] [applause] i probably would not have taken it, but i thought about it.

[laughter] michelle would have taken it. [laughter] you think i'm joking. [laughter] i know republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012. what they all agree upon is reaching out. call me self centered, but i could think of one minority they could start with. [laughter] hello? [applause] think of me as a trial run. see how it goes. [laughter] if they won't come to me, i will come to them.

i recently had a dinner with a number of republican senators. i will admit it was not ea. died ined a toast.it committee. [laughter] of course, some folks still don't think i spend enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they asked? really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell? [laughter] i'm sorry. i get frustrated sometimes. [laughter] i'm not giving up. in fact, i'm taking my charm offensive on the road.

a texas barbecue with ted cruz. kentucky bluegrass concert with rand paul. and a book burning with michele [laughter] my charm offensive has let me learn some interesting things going on in congress. it turns out absolutely nothing. but the point of my charm offensive is simple. we need to make progress on some important issues. republicans fell in love with the sequester and now they cannot stop talking about how much they hate it, like we are trapped in a taylor swift album. [laughter]

one senator who had reached across the aisle recently is marco rubio. i don't know about 2016. he has not finished a single term in the senate and he think he is ready to be president. [laughter] kids these days. on thursday, i went to the opening of the bush presidential library in dallas. wonderful event. that got me inspired to get started on my own legacy. it will begin by building another edifice right next to the bush library. can we show that? [laughter]

i'm also hard at work on plans for the obama library. some have suggested we put it in my birthplace, but i would rather keep it in the united states. [laughter] [applause] did anyone not see that joke coming? [laughter] only gallup? dick morris? [laughter] speaking of presidents and their legacies, i want to acknowledge a wonderful friend, and steven spielberg and daniel day-lewis who are here tonight. we had a screening of their most recent film "lincoln." extraordinary film. i'm nervous about stephen's next

project. i saw a behind-the-scenes look on hbo. let's check it out. roll the tape. >> i was thrilled that lincoln was a success. i was thinking about what to do next. in the middle of the night i woke up and it hit me. obama. why wait? picking the right actor to play obama, that was a challenge. we never got his transcripts. they say he is kind of aloof. i need someone to become barack obama. it turns out the answer was right in front of me all along. daniel day-lewis. [laughter] he nailed it. >> it took a while.

hello, ohio. i love you back. let me be clear about that. [laughter] >> once we had daniel to play obama, we had to guess the rest of the team. >> working with a legend mike daniel is intimidating. he makes everyone better. without them, i never could have played joe biden. literally. i am joe biden. >> the hardest part, trying to understand his motivations. what makes them tick? why doesn't he get mad? if i was him, i get mad all the time. but i am not. i am daniel day-lewis. [laughter] [applause]

>> remarkable transformation. do i really sound like that? groucho marx once said -- senator cruz, that is groucho marx, not karl. the other guy. he once told an audience, before i speak, i something important to say. along those same lines, i want to close on a more serious note. there has been no shortage of news to cover over the past few weeks. the suspense and very hard days -- these have been some very

hard daysfor many of our citizens. even as we gather here tonight, our thoughts are not far from the people of boston and the people of west, texas and the families in the midwest coping with some terrible floods. we have had some difficult days. but even when the days seemed darkest, we have seen humanity shine at its brightest. we have seen first responders and national guardsmen who dashed into danger. law-enforcement officers who lived their oath, to serve and protect. and everyday americans opening their homes and their hearts to perfect strangers. we also saw journalists at their best. especially those that took their time to wait upstream through the torrent of digital rumors to

verify leads and facts. if anyone wonders whether newspapers are a thing of the past, all you need to do is pick up or log on to papers like "the boston globe." [applause] when their communities and the wider world needed them most, they were there. making sense of the events that might, at first blush, seem beyond our comprehension. that is what great journalism is. that is what great journalists do. that is why pete williams' new nickname around the nbc newsroom is big papi. [applause] i got a chance to meet many of the volunteers and police officers who raced to help when

hardship hit. i was reminded, as i always am when i meet our men and women in uniform, whether they are abroad or here back home, our walter reed. they don't do it to be honored. they don't do it to be celebrated. they do it because they love their families and they love their neighborhoods and they love their country. these men and women should inspire all of us in this room to live up to those same standards. to be worthy of their trust. to do our jobs with the same fidelity and the same integrity and the same sense of purpose and the same love of country. if we are only focused on profits or ratings or polls, then we are contributing to the cynicism that so many people feel right now.

[applause] and so those of us in this room tonight, we are incredibly lucky. the fact is, we can do better. all of us. those of us in public office, those of us in the press, those who produce entertainment for our kids, those with power, those with influence, all of us, including myself, we can strive to value those things that i suspect led most of us to do the work that we do in the first place. because we believed in something that was true. we believed in service. in the idea that we can have a lasting, positive impact on the lives of the people around us. that is our obligation. that is a task we should gladly embrace on behalf of all of those folks who are counting on us.

on behalf of this country that has given us so much. thank you all for the great work you do. god bless you all, may god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> thank you, mr. president. without further ado, mr. conan o'brien. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. please remain seated. that is not necessary. [applause] [laughter] thank you, don't stand, that wouldn't be right.

good evening, thank you, mr. president, mrs. obama, distinguished members of the press and bon jovi. >> >> >>]>> yes, it is an honor to share the stage with the president. when you think about it, he and i are a lot alike. we both went to harvard, we both have two children and we both told joe biden we did not have extra tickets for tonight?s event. [laughter] we also have something else in common, i too recently got in trouble for talking about a public official's good looks. it was when i would not shut up about that stone cold fox, secretary of transportation ray lahood. oh, man. i like the cut of his jib. [laughter] president obama, you had some great jokes. it was a pleasure watching you stand here and do what i do. now it is only fair that i get to do what you do. that is right, ladies and gentlemen, for the next 15

minutes i will be mired in a dysfunctional standoff with congress. this is going to be fun. [laughter] i would like to formally congratulate the president on his reelection. congratulations. [applause] as you all know, he is hard at work reading jobs. since he was first selected, the number of popes has doubled. >> > hter] and the number of tonight show hosts has tripled. congratulations. [laughter] while i'm at it, i would like to congratulate president george w. bush on big dedication of his presidential library. yes, the library has millions of books, articles, and documents and if you go, you can be the first to read them. [laughter] you can't hurt me. ladies and gentlemen, let's get going. right here at the start i am going to share something with

you people and it does not leave this room. i say this with absolute confidence, because we are on c- span. [laughter] who doesn't love c-span, seriously? c-span. an entire channel shot the backup camera on a ford explorer. congratulations to c-span for winning the bid to broadcast this event. they beat out hd tv two, tvc south america and the hilton hotel how to check out channel. [laughter] that is right, the hilton. it is great to be here at the hilton. is it just me or is it time to stop using priceline to book this event? i love the hilton. i love their motto, sorry the radisson was booked. i was worried that because of the sequester we would be forced to hold this event at a less prestigious hotel then the dc [video clip] [video clip]

-- then i was told that was not possible. [laughter] i do want to thank the hilton for accommodating us. they were kind enough to reschedule a cash for gold seminar. [laughter] by the way, for those of you here for the cash for gold seminar, that has been moved to salon be on the mezzanine. and if joe biden asks, there are no extra tickets for that, either. quick announcement, before we really get going, before we continue, if any of you are live tweeting this event, please use the #incapableoflivinginthemoment. [laughter] yeah. yeah. yeah. also, to any u.s. senators here tonight, if you would like to switch your dessert or your position on gay marriage, please signal a waiter. [laughter] speaking of dinner, tonight?s entr?es are halibut, and filet mignon. or as cnn reported, lasagna and

couscous. [laughter] there is a gavel here, and i don't know why. [gavel pounds] here is a fun fact about tonight's food, everything you it was personally shot by wayne lapierre. don't worry, it was during a home invasion. the fish came in through the window. it wasn't peppercorn, it was buckshot.[laughter] incidentally, you may not know this, but wayne lapierre is merely the executive vice president of the nra. which begs the question, how freaking crazy do you have to be to be the actual president of the nra? [laughter] [applause] he is not even at the top. [laughter] i would like to acknowledge that earlier this evening there was some confusion with the seating

chart. for a moment, someone accidentally sat governor chris christie with the republicans. that was awkward, and i apologize. very awkward. speaking of tables, before dinner, i had a chance to mingle, you probably saw me. i worked the crowd, shook some hands and sold my twitter account to al jazeera for $500 million. they will buy anything. it is an absolute joy to be her at the white house correspondents dinner. last year, tom brokaw criticized this event for having too many superstars and a-list celebrities. when i told him i would be attending this year, he said, that is more like it. [laughter] that should not be funny to you. but this is really a star- studded event. this year, you have taken it to new heights. i have to congratulate you.

it's. you have some of the guy from "duck dynasty." which can only mean one thing, the guys from "storage wars" said no. i always hated that one. as some of you know, this is my second time speaking at this event. i was 18 years ago in 1995, a lot has changed since then. today you can get real-time information on world events from something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. back in 1995, we called that george stephanopoulos. [laughter] i can see if george is here because there is a crouton in the way. [laughter] it is amazing to think how much our country has changed in 18 years. think about it. if in 1995 he told me that in

2013, we would have an african- american president with a middle name hussein, who was just reelected to a second term in a sluggish economy, i would have said, oh, you must have run against mitt romney. [laughter] by the way, no offense, i do congratulate you on your victory, but as a late-night comedian, i was kind of pulling for the rich guy whose horse danced in the olympics. [laughter] the demographics of this country have been rapidly changing over the past two decades. i look forward to hosting this event 18 years from now. then, my opening line will be, [speaking spanish] si. especialmente, presidente mario lopez. [laughter]

my prior experience has taught me how these dinners work. if the president laughs, everyone laughs. if the fox news table laughs, a little girl just fell off her bike. [laughter] how are you doing, bill? i'll be washington news mediator tonight, including the stars of online journalism. i did the huffington post has a table. which has me wondering, if you are here, who is covering miley cyrus's latest nip slip? who is assembling today's top 25 yogurt related tweets? [laughter] just before dinner, i tried to

say hello to ariana huffington, but she made me watch a 30- second ad first. [laughter] a lot of online stars in the room, but unfortunately not judge couldn't make it.-- matt drudge could not make it. he had a prior commitment to teach a web design class in 1997.[laughter] the washington print media is also joining us this evening. the print media are here for two very good reasons. food and shelter. [laughter] you know, some people say print media is dying, but i don't believe it. neither does my blacksmith. [laughter] you have got to meet zachariah, he is great. newsweek, which after 80 years published its last print issue. time magazine might be gloating,

but they really shouldn't, because time will outlive newsweek a way juliett outlived romeo. read the play, it is very smart. [laughter] things are so tough for media, reuters is having its after party right here at the hilton. because nothing says we are having a great here like having your after party at the same table where you just had dinner. [laughter] with that in mind, reuters is asking everyone here to leave a little wine at the bottom of the glass. [laughter] to be fair, print media still has a big star in bob woodward. got to give it up for bob woodward. [applause] earlier this evening, a waiter asked him if he wanted regular or decaf and he said, stop threatening me![laughter]

some big names in television news. when it comes to television news, we have a divided landscape. fox news is watched by conservatives, msnbc watched by liberals and cnn is watched by people who clean the offices at cnn. [laughter] [oohs] oh, it gets worst. cnn's ratings are so low, when it comes up, james earl jones says, you are watching cnn? what the hell? i have to say, in the past two years, cnn has made some odd moves. it replaced the -- popular larry king with one of the footman from "downton abbey."[laughter] right in to that show. it is good to see my old friends at msnbc. chris matthews is here.

chris matthews has the only show where the commercial exists just so they can wipe the spittle off the lens. [laughter] during the boston coverage on msnbc last week, chuck todd stopped a pundit from speculating on unverified information. there is no joke here. i'm just letting the people at cnn know that you can do that. [laughter] this is a learning experience. fox news star bill o'reilly, he has become quite the author. two recent bestsellers, " killing kennedy" and "killing what about "the natural peaceful death of taft"? [laughter] bill o'reilly is now working on his next book, due out this fall, this time about the killing of jesus. it will be the first time in

history that his death is blamed on obamacare. [laughter] two quick shout outs to pbs and npr. pbs -- yes! [applause] those people love to party. be safe, wear a tote bag. it works. you have got to love npr. still the number one source for news delivered as if there is a toddler sleeping in the next room. [laughter] shh! nbc news is in the house. they have had a rough go of it. ann today show let go of curry. after being told that ann curry said, how broker tells the world that he crafted answer the -- crapped in his pants at

thewhite house and i am getting fired? al is the reason there are no more chores of the white house, they're still hosing down. [crowd oohs] brian williams is here. i am a big fan of your show. if you haven't seen it, imagine brand delivering the evening news on a different floor of the building, a little later, with a slightly different tie. it is a mind blower. check it out. as i look all around the room, i realize this is one big high school cafeteria. that is all it is. think about it. fox is the jocks. msnbc is the nerds. bloggers are the goths. npr is the table for kids with peanut allergies. [laughter] al jazeera is the weird foreign- exchange student nobody talks to. print media, you are the poor kid who died sophomore year in a car crash. [laughter] cheer up, we dedicate the yearbook to you. of course, the biggest or that

people covered this past year was the republicans failure to recapture the white house. hard to believe they did not fare better with the sort of celebrities like ted nugent and meatloaf. --ey underestimated the number numberimated the of voters who still drive carpeted vans. [laughter] the republican party's on the mend. one rising star on the right is senator marco rubio. or as he is known in the republican party, our black guy. [laughter] as of today come in the u.s. senate has a number of african- american senators. two. two. in other words, there are now more african-americans in the senate than in a mumford and [video clip]

sons concert. thank you, younger people. paul ryan -- i don't understand! what's he babbling about? [laughter] who is this man? paul ryan, he really burst through when he ran for vice president. after the election, he said president obama was reelected because of the high turnout of urban voters. when he was asked how he liked his coffee he said, no milk, no sugar, just urban. [laughter] there is rnc chairman reince priebus. tonight he is sitting between his brothers, lather and repeat. [laughter] house majority leader eric cantor is here. or as i like to refer to him, yet another jewish republican

from the south. -- a joining us, a condiment congressmanfrom new york named steve israel. he is from new york and his name is israel. there is pandering, and then there is pandering. that is like having a congressman from south carolina named jesus h. gun. [laughter] you've got to use this thing, it is fantastic. [gavel pounds] i mentioned chris christie earlier, governor christie and shaquille o'neal are sitting at the same dinner table. let's give it up for the real unsung hero tonight, their waiter. [laughter] that poor bastard. going to lose an arm.

and we have one or two supreme court justices. they seem divided over same-sex marriage. the liberal justices favorite-- favor itwhile the conservatives oppose any life long union between two men, unless it is antonin scalia and clarence thomas. what the hell was that? speaker john boehner is not here tonight. speaker banner and president obama are still struggling to get along. president obama and john boehner, kind of like a blind date between anderson cooper and rachel maddow. in theory, they understand each other's position, but deep down, you know nothing is ever going to happen. [laughter] [applause] [gavel pounds]

speaking of nothing happening, we are all hoping for nothing to happen with north korea. that got me wondering, what is with kim jong-un? in the past, we have had really scary enemies like saddam hussain and hitler. now, suddenly our nemesis is a pouty teenage boy who dresses like rosie o'donnell at the [laughter] kim jong-un does not understand that we aren't afraid of him. what that guy doesn't get is that we already have an unstable peninsula that will ultimately bring down america. it is called florida. [laughter] [applause] yes it is. yes, president obama has a lot on his plate right now. he is at the very nice stage where there are no more secrets left to come out about him. we all know that he lived in indonesia as a child, studied at a muslim seminary and occasionally ate dog.

from the beginning, a kid who had his eyes set on the u.s. presidency. [laughter] check, check, and check. here i come. i know the relationship between the president and the press can seem a bit strained at times. some in this room have accused him of being distant and aloof. when i asked the president about it earlier, he said, oh, and then walked away. [laughter] it is only natural, but mr. president election was less exciting than the first time around in 2008. an election night, you celebrated with hundreds of thousands of people in chicago's grant park. it was fascinating. this time around, you split the hot dog did not ask about. -- split a hot dog with david

axelrod. it did not have the same buzz. it has been several months since you were reelected, so i am curious, why are you still sending everyone five e-mails a day asking for more money? you won. do you have a gambling problem we don't know about? did you put it all on gonzaga? [laughter] you did, didn't you? he did. [gavel pounds] president obama has already made a lot of changes in his second term. you recently appointed john kerry and chuck hagel. smart moves. the only two people in the united states to look even more tired than you. [laughter] a great strategy. mr. president, you will leave office a very young man. the presidency has taken it's toll. you are starting to look like a judge on "law and order." just say, you are on thin ice, counselor. you could have that part right away. your hair is so white, it could be a member of your cabinet.

[laughter] [crowd oohs] he can handle it. he recently picked the new treasury secretary, jack lew. if the president ever has to let him go, he can say, it is not lew, it's me. [laughter] the quote i hear the most about the president is that he is always the coolest guy in the room. that is what everyone says. he is the coolest guy in the room. here is my question. who else is in that room? it is not hard to be the cool one when the other guys in the room r biden, hagel, and kerry.

i would be cool to if i was in a room where steve vilsack was showing steven chu how to do the harlem shake.[laughter] i have made some jokes about the president this e. i am looking forward to my audit. [laughter] it is coming. i know. i would like to take a moment here and change gears and say some into the president. regarding the events of the past two weeks. some of you may not know this. i grew up in boston. but parents still live there. my brother, luke, raised his family in watertown. i would like to take this opportunity to thank, you mr. president, for visiting that great city and helping people begin to heal with your inspiring words. you made a huge difference. [applause] it has been said recently that you don't mess with boston. as someone who grew up there, i would like to echo that sentiment. it is really pretty simple. if you're going to pick on a city, don't choose one where nine out of 10 people are related to a cop. don't do it. it is stupid. that includes myself. i have one more thing to mention before i go. everyone is obsessed with washington these days.

we saw how you went crazy for "house of cards" "homeland", hollywood can't get enough of your world. i'm excited to announce that they are going to make a television miniseries about the power players here in washington. they just finished the casting, and i would like to announce who is going to play who. this is big. vice president joe biden is going to be played by bob barker. [laughter] former white house adviser david axelrod will be played by higgins from magnum pi. [laughter] this was also produced by steven spielberg, by the way. representative paul ryan will be played by mr. bean. [laughter] senator chuck schumer will be

played by grandpa munster.[video clip] -- [laughter] senator harry reid will be played by the old man from the american gothic painting. [laughter] fox news ceo roger ailes will be played by -- speaker boehner will be played by tan mom. secretary of homeland security janet napolitano will be played by paul giamatti. [laughter] former white house chief of staff and chicago mayor rahm emanuel will be played by stewie from "family guy."

secretary of state john kerry will be played by any easter island head. i cannot tell those two apart. [laughter] supreme court chief justice john roberts will be played by buzz lightyear. senator mitch mcconnell will be played by dame edna. cnn anchor wolf blitzer will be played by a furby. wayne lapierre will be played by the facemelt guy from "raiders of the lost ark." and white house press secretary jay carney will be played by ralphie from "a christmas story." ladies and gentlemen, this is a

huge honor. thank you very much. [applause] >> great job, conan. that was awesome. we want to thank everyone for a really terrific night. especially my family and friends. everybody in the room tonight. thank you very much. it was a great night. [applause] we ask that you stay seated, at least around your table until the president and his party depart or its they will be escorted out by the incoming president the white house correspondents association.

[applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> she is in poor health by the time her husband succeeds the presidency. meet eliza johnson, wife of the 17 president, andrew johnson, as we continue our series on first ladies with questions and comments by phone, facebook,

and twitter on monday at 9:00 eastern on c-span and c-span 3. >> in just a few moments, "washington journal" live with your tweets, calls, and e-mails, followed by this week's "newsmakers" with representative adam smith. then the dedication ceremony for the george w bush presidential center. headlines inday's your calls, tweets, and e-mails, followed by former fbi investigator david williams on the fbi's investigation into the boston bombings. then a roundtable discussion on news from the week from capitol hill, the white house, boston, and syria.

later, a look at the u.s.-russia relationship with william pomerantz of the woodrow wilson center. "washington journal" is next. ♪ good morning and welcome to "washington journal" on this sunday, it will 28, 20 13. last night washington media, politicians, and celebrities gathered for the annual white house correspondents association dinner. we would like to get your thoughts this morning on the relationship between the press in dc insiders. here are the numbers to call -- you can also find us online. send us a tweet by writing

@cspanwj. or join the conversation on facebook by looking for c-span. you can also e-mail us journal@cspan.org. the white house correspondents dinner. this is one of the headlines -- here are some other headlines, some critiquing the dinner. to brokaw says, no thanks the white house correspondents dinner. he blames it on lindsay lohan. he became one of the biggest critics of the annual white house correspondents dinner after he saw washington buzzing around and about the troubled hollywood actress who was a guest of fox news's greta van sus to ring. susteran.

you can see here an image of the nbc news man. he says -- he was once a white house correspondent himself during the watergate era. lastly, his critique was purposeful, public, and unpredictable. let's take a listen to some of the banter, the speech given last night i president obama. president obama. he spoke read before conan o'brien, who was the entertainment headliner. he talked about the relationship with the media. [video clip] my former advisers

have switched over to the dark side. for example, tabled axelrod -- david axelrod now works for msnbc, which is a nice change of pace, since msnbc used to work for david axelrod. [laughter] the history channel is not here. i guess they were embarrassed about the whole obama is a devil thing. [laughter] of course, that never cap fox news -- kept fox news from showing up. they actually thought the comparison was not fair to satan. [laughter] the problem is is that the media landscape is changing so rapidly. you cannot keep up with it.

i remember when was -- when buzzfeed was just something i did in college around 2:00 a.m. host: here are some tweets coming into us. we are asking you about the relationship between media and dc insiders. what do you think? jim writes in -- dana milbank writes about this in his column today in the "washington post."

what do you think? peggy, tampa, florida, democrats line. thatr: i just want to say it is good at times that we have this sort of thing going on for the simple reason that we've got to have a simple sense of humor to keep the american spirit. going to go around criticizing each other and hating each other, that is no good. i honestly can say that there are times where i see many things i agree with in the democratic party, and also in the republican party, as well

as the independent. let's face it -- we are not always going to agree on everything all of the time. if we can come to a point where we can agree, try to get along, this is very important. as far as i'm concerned, that is the american spirit. thank you. host: dan is in detroit on our independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. the media and hollywood have done a lot of influencing in our politics. if you look at hollywood, hollywood is not the greatest example for people to live their life by. look at all the stuff that goes on. they are an influence on our country. there are a lot of bad things that are going on. people are not taking responsibility for it. i'm ashamed of the government, the way that the federal government runs. host: the story in politico, "the politics of celebrity"

at saturday's white house correspondents association dinner, a surprising percentage of the west coast attendees will not be there to pitch her new sitcom. they will be there to try and -- to end wars in africa, pirg childhood hunger, works player their own future -- or explore their own future and political life. that story from politico, trying to get the audience perspective and causes heard. mary in wisconsin, a democrat. hello. caller: i think when i was watching the coverage last night, i heard someone mention that the "new york times" did not buy tables. maybe it would be an important story to cover who was there,

who did pay the $2700 for table, and who did not. maybe the ones who did not could be viewed as more trusted forms of media. "the mary, we spoke with new york times" magazine last night. we will take a listen to that interview now. we spoke on friday, on the deeds of the white house correspondents weekend, about why "the new york times" does not buy tables and some of the critique that goes on. let's take a listen. we had a problem with the audio. we will get that to you in a bit. mary mentioned that "the new york times" does not buy tables for this dinner. we can also see some of the coverage of the dinner, who attendant, who did not. here are some other headlines.

here is "the drudge report." then we see some others. this one, sarah palin weighing in, the former vice presidential candidate on the republican side. she slammed the white house correspondent dinner as pathetic and bashed those in attendance. she did that via twitter. and if they supposed, she expanded her critique -- on facebook, she expanded her critique. others pushed back at some of the criticism, however. we mention that, brokaw was not planning to go, but there were some who said that he got it wrong. here's politico --

walter is right here in washington, dc, the independent line. caller: i enjoyed the dinner, even though i was not there. i enjoyed your coverage. i think that your first color is on the nail. you've got to stop being so serious about everything, you know what i am saying, c-span?

everything, we have to be serious about it. was, damehat got me edner plana mitch mcconnell, the turner broadcasting washington program. i think we have to find some sense of levity in this vicious, vicious cycle of news and world reporting. i think that the influence that the press has is minimal because you take the running with the ideas, the false ideas, in particular, the republican party lines -- i do not think the press should follow party lines. i think the press should influence as an independent, fourth leg of government, not for republicans or democrats. as a registered independent, i

respect both parties. but i have been disappointed that there has been nothing but party line partisanship from the republican party. we cannot survive like that. , dc. you are in washington do you feel part of the community that was gathered last night, or do you feel you are watching it as an outsider? caller: that is like asking me if i bought a $2700 ticket, that i cannot pay for -- yes, i am an american. it was un-american party. host: -- an american part. host: talking about the price of tables. let's go toronto in minneapolis, minnesota. good morning. caller: i think that the gathering is a very important event and that we need to laugh at and with one another, because the rest of the business is so serious that we can become overloaded with it. the concern that i have is that other nations do not have this

as part of their culture, humor and sarcasm, likely due in the united states. -- like we do in the united states. i'm concerned about how they are receiving our sarcasm, which can be quite writing. host: -- quite biting. host: what do you think about the relationship between the media and some of the insiders, politicians, staffers that attend these events? i think the media -- i think sometimes they go past their license. that is they do not write policy, they are supposed to write on it. sometimes the balance goes way out of whack. host: here are some tweets --

someone else tweets in -- let's take a listen to some more president obama speaking last night. [video clip] >> i am taking my charm offensive on the road. a texas barbecue with ted cruz. kentucky bluegrass concert with rand paul. a book burning with michele bachmann. [laughter] my charm offensive has helped me learn some interesting things about what is going on in congress and it turns out, absolutely nothing. [laughter] the point of my charm offensive is simple, we need to make

progress on some important issues. take the sequester -- republicans fell in love with this thing, and now they cannot stop talking about how much they hated, like we are trapped in a taylor swift album. [laughter] thatr: you've got relationship between the media and d.c. insiders. up in was growing detroit, in the 1960's and three, the earth independent news gathering agencies. said -- today there are 70-90 --nnels, clear channel radio these are run by billionaires'.

when you talk about the media, there are fire regional propaganda outlets and then you add goldman sachs, all these corporations. now you have an idea of the media. you look at general electric and msnbc. all the energy policies in the world, campaign financing lobbies, and microsoft. then you get to clear channel radio it is 90% of a ham -- am radio. -- bushes, the kara rovacs

carl roves. 90% of all your tv comes from the state of georgia. we have a constitution. we went through that with the south. the jewishll off, population makes up 1.5% of the population. >> we will leave it there. that last july and was caught on. i wish you had not cut him off because everything he was saying was totally connected to the fact -- the white house press corps. that tells you right there who is in control, who is telling them what to do, who tells them what to say, what to say, and when not to say. that is why they call it the white house press corps. i don't do anything but keep up with what is going on. we as american people are the

most misinformed people about our government and what is doing on our behalf, that is unbelievable. when they say don't take things seriously and lb so uptight weut it, we aren't, because are so misinformed by these people who are called the white house press corps. host: this from twitter. call,ia is our next garden city, new york, independent. i watched the entire taping, which i do love c-span, they do a great job. but the white house correspondents' dinner was an embarrassment to any serious media. it was a fashion show. no serious issues were addressed, the affordable health care act, unemployment, domestic terrorism.

mediain concentration of today is sports and the weather. perhaps they should have given awards for that. i am very sorry, i will never watch that again, ever. i think that it was really a disgrace. thank you very much. coming intoomments us on facebook. says, the president was excellent as always. mike says, i agree with tom brokaw in his criticism of the dinner. for media in the u.s. today is little more than the propaganda organ of the dnc, the democratic national committee. bought politicians in washington. those are facebook comments. you can join the conversation by looking for c-span on facebook. looking more at some of the

coverage of last night's dinner, we can see here, white house correspondents' dinner, conan o'brien took the best shots at the media. the media took some tough hits on saturday during the dinner, both from the president and comedian conan o'brien. making fun of cnn, also making fun of print media and its viability, going from there. bobby in texas, republican. opinion, we ought to have a bipartisan government, not just democrats and republicans. i think the liberals have a right to speak, the tea party, ,he liberals, the federalist the whig party.

those are the party is that our country was founded on. it is not just republican and democrat. it says in our constitution, for the people and by the people. the: what did you think president obama speaking last night? >> there are other players in the landscape as well, like super pac. digino that sheldon adelson spent $100 million of his own money last year on negative ads? you've got to really dislike me to spend that kind of money. [laughter] island and call "nobama"for that kind of money. sheldon would have been better off offering me $100 million to drop out of the race. [applause]

i probably wouldn't have taken it, but i thought about it. michelle would have taken it. [laughter] you think i am joking. sheila is our next caller in lincoln, nebraska, on the democrats' line. we are talking about the relationship between the media and the see insiders. what do you think, sheila? when was the first year this was held, and how did it come about? host: one element to it is a scholarship. i don't know if you know much about that, sheila. do you have a comment about the ease those, the idea of the dinner? caller: i don't know, i enjoy

watching it every year, and i don't think sharing one night of fun is going to show there is an inappropriate relationship between the two. host: do you listen to the speeches and watch what happens? caller: yes, i do. host: is information about the scholarship. the association has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship to foster the next generation of journalists. it goes through some of the award recipients, including northwest university, also howard university right here in part of our.c. morning team is one of the people who helps get this program on a year. she was among one of those awarded last night's scholarship

before all those people gathered there. we will talk more about the history of the dinner, but here is a tweet in the meantime. .ere is one from charles caller from tampa, florida, republican. what i have to say is going to take the smile off your presidenti feel that obama should be impeached and charged with treason. has stated and made to the american public. aboutwhat do you think the dinner and how does your feeling about president obama relate to our question this morning?

caller: i did not watch the dinner, to be honest with you completely. i don't enjoy watching mr. president missed the of the united states. he has made being whom is the president of the united states. he has made so many false , he never brought to light all the promises he made to the american public, and i feel he has been the most dishonest president the united states has never had, and hopefully, the last one that we will ever have. disappointed in his leadership, which he has not situation --

position he is placing israel in and the american people in general. on thee are focused dinner from last night. what part of minnesota are you calling from? caller: northern minnesota. for entertainment's sake, the dinner was ok, but to meet, it shows to the leaders cater to. they are not catering to folks in my situation are the average joe, that cater to those who finance the political machine, and those are the people who get the laws written for them and the tax code written for them, and all the policies written for them. it is making it harder for somebody like me to start a small business or whatever, to try to make it to the top. unless the american people open

their eyes and do something about this two-party system that we have, i think we are lost. nancy in florida, democrats line. caller: >> i think it is pure entertainment, these purple -- these people work together in very stressful situations and that they want to go out and celebrate that relationship, one of the concerns i have is that in the constitution that says there is no law to prohibit the free exercise of the press. there is nothing in the constitution that says the press has to be impartial, so if they want to have one news media that favors the right and one that favors the left, it doesn't make sense that they are allowed to exist. it does not say there has to be equality. the website give some

story of the organization itself. it started in february 1914 after the white house let it be known the president woodrow wilson was interested in having an unprecedented series of regular schedule press conferences but was unsure how to pick the reporters to invite to the sessions. , aghast at this intrusion on their turf, they form the one house correspondents association, decreeing that its primary on dick shelby the motion of the interest of those reporters and correspondents assigned to cover the white house. lay dormant until 1920 when the organization held its first dinner. in 1944, calvin coolidge became the first of 14 presidents to attend the dinner. the website goes on to say that in world war rohr -- in world war ii it was an entertainment

extravaganza. it goes on to show more information. was open2, the dinner only to men. change when helen thomas, president john kennedy said he would not attend the dinner unless the ban on women was dropped. we have them on our website, c- cd.n.org/wh you can find all the old footage. barry in pennsylvania on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i would like to comment about the relationship with the media and the d.c. insiders. if i remember correctly, back in the day, a lot of people in certain political leaders for giving reagan a very, very hard time for hanging out with all these hollywood types like sinatra, etc. he came under a lot of fire and abused for that. it seems these days hollywood has no problem hanging out with the current president. i am wondering, is there a double standard going on around here? i understand that the president does need to get his message across. every politician does. one side totally abuse is the other for doing the same thing themselves. i wonder what is going on. writes, last night's dinner was another round of media, political fat cats, and hollywood